The present invention relates to a locking device for a door, window or the like, having a main lock box, at least one supplementary lock box, and at least one drive rod connecting the supplementary lock boxes to the main lock box.
From German Patent DE 35 05 379 C1, a drive rod lock has been disclosed that is connected via a drive rod to a middle lock. In other words, this drive rod connects the two latches of the two locks. In this way, a door can be connected to the edge plate in the door frame not only in the middle but also in the region of its corners. When the door is closed, the latches are pushed inward along the edge plate, so that the door can assume its closing position. For opening the door, the latch of the middle lock is actuated and retracted via a door handle or a lock cylinder; this motion is transmitted via the drive rod via the latch of the drive rod lock, thus retracting this latch as well. A disadvantage here is that when the latch is pushed inward, the drive rod is also always moved. This makes the latch sluggish and causes functional problems.
European Patent Disclosure EP 431 369 A2 discloses a mortise lock with a latch bolt. This latch bolt has the task, besides that of a conventional bolt, of additionally locking the door, which is accomplished in that the latch bolt after the door is closed changes over automatically from a latching position to a locking position, in which it is pushed farther out of the mortise lock than in the latching position and thus engages far inside the edge plate in the door frame. As a rule, such a latch bolt can no longer be retracted by inserting some tool into the slit between the door and the door frame. A door with this kind of latch bolt is automatically locked after being closed.
An object of the present invention is to furnish a locking device with supplementary lock boxes with which the door offers better resistance to break-ins and moreover to improve the latch function.
According to the present invention, this object is attained in that in the locking device of the type referred to at the outset, the supplementary lock box has a latch bolt that can be retracted freely; the latch bolt is displaceable by a spring and/or by a gear past the normal latching position into its locking position.
With the locking device according to the present invention, the advantage is attained that the door can be held outside the middle, or in other words at least in the region of one corner, via the latch bolt and can also be locked thereby. If a door equipped with the locking device according to the present invention is swung shut, then first the latch bolt is retracted via the edge plate in the door frame, thus making it possible for the door to be closed. If the door is in the closed position, the latch bolt is pushed out of the supplementary lock box and moves past its latching position into a locking position. In that position, the latch bolt cannot be pushed back into the gap between the door and the door frame, for instance, by inserting some flat tool. A door locked in this way offers high resistance to break-ins.
It is especially worth noting that the latch bolt, when the door is open, is held in the latching position by a blocking element, so that the door can easily be closed. Not until the door assumes its closed position does the blocking element release the latch bolt, so that the latch bolt can move past the latching position further by approximately 10 mm to 15 mm out of the supplementary lock box and can engage the edge plate in the door frame. The release of the latch bolt by the blocking element takes place automatically whenever the door assumes its closing position, since then the blocking element is forced by the edge plate in the door frame into the release position. In other words, the automatic movement outward of the latch bolt is tripped by the edge plate.
In a further feature it is provided that the blocking element is supported pivotably in the latch bolt in a normal plane to the pivot axis of the door. In other words, the blocking element has a pivot axis parallel to the pivot axis of the door, so that when it meets the edge plate it can deflect. In the position of repose, the blocking element protrudes part way past the contour of the latch bolt.
Preferably, the blocking element is forced in the projection direction via a spring-loaded lever. From this projection direction, in which the blocking element protrudes beyond the contour of the latch bolt, the blocking element can be pushed counter to the force of the spring-loaded lever into a position inside the contour of the latch bolt and is thereby rendered inoperative.
In one exemplary embodiment it is accordingly provided that via the blocking element, the latch bolt is forced into the latching and locking position. The spring-loaded lever that forces the blocking element in the projection direction also brings about the projection of the latch bolt into its latching position when the door is open and into its locking position when the door is closed.
The latch bolt, on its side opposite the contact incline and in the region of the latch tail, preferably has a protrusion which is engaged by a latch restoring lever. Via this latch restoring lever, the latch bolt is retracted either out of its locking position or out of its latching position, to allow the door to be opened. The latch restoring lever is connected to the drive rod in such a way that on actuation of the drive rod it is carried along by the drive rod into the reverse closing position. On being shifted into this reverse closing position, the latch restoring lever pulls the latch bolt all the way into the supplementary lock box. Via the drive rod, a plurality of supplementary lock boxes can be connected to the main lock box, so that the individual latch bolts of the supplementary lock boxes are thrust synchronously into the respective lock boxes via the drive rod. The use of a plurality of lock boxes over the height of the door also prevents warping of the door and further reduces the danger of break-ins.
Preferably, on closure of the door and pushing in of the latch bolt, the latch restoring lever is pivoted by the latch bolt and decoupled from the drive rod. Accordingly, on closing of the door only the latch bolt is thrust inward but the drive rod is not actuated.
Preferably, the latch restoring lever is pivotable about an axis at right angles to the door leaf. In this way, the latch restoring lever converts the shear force, which on displacement of the drive rod extends in a direction parallel to the pivot axis of the door, into a shear force that is orthogonal to it and is located at the plane of the door leaf, and with this latter shear force the latch bolt can be retracted into the supplementary lock box.
In accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment, the latch bolt is engaged by a latch blocking lever, which when the latch bolt has been pushed all the way out locks the latch bolt in the locking position. This latch blocking lever prevents the latch bolt, located in the locking position, from being retractable into the supplementary lock box, for instance via a tool inserted between the door and the door frame, even if the door frame is damaged, exposing the latch bolt.
A further feature provides that the latch blocking lever in the locking position engages the latch bolt, or a protrusion of the latch bolt from behind with a latch blocking edge. As soon as the latch bolt assumes its locking position, the latch blocking lever is shifted in such a way that its latch blocking edge secures the latch bolt in the locking position. Displacement of the latch bolt can occur only whenever the engagement from behind of the latch blocking edge of the latch blocking lever is undone.
An especially preferred exemplary embodiment contemplates that the latch restoring lever has a pawl, which upon actuation of the latch restoring lever by means of the drive rod lifts the latch blocking lever out of its position that locks the latch bolt and releases the latch bolt for retraction.
Accordingly, if the latch bolt is in its locking position and is secured in that position via the latch blocking lever, then by actuation of the drive rod the latch restoring lever, with which the latch bolt is retracted into the supplementary lock box, and the latch blocking lever can be lifted out of the blocking position of the latch blocking lever before the latch bolt is retracted.
The latch blocking lever may be supported pivotably about an axis perpendicular to the door leaf. Moreover, the latch blocking lever is connected to a spring, in particular a torsion spring, that forces it into the locking position. As a consequence, when the latch bolt is projected all the way, the latch blocking lever automatically assumes the locking position and locks the latch bolt against being retracted.
The noted object is also attained with the variant of the present invention, which may also be a further feature of the aforementioned present invention, in which the locking device is further developed such that the supplementary lock box has a latch bolt, and the latch bolt can be moved from a latching position into a locking position via the first drive rod and back, and via a second drive rod from the latching position into a retracted position.
In this locking device according to the present invention, the latch bolt after the door is closed is shifted via the first drive rod into the locking position, thereby securing the door against a break-in. From this position, the latch bolt can again be brought back into the latching position by actuation of the first drive rod. Moreover, the latch bolt can be retracted all the way into the supplementary lock box via the second drive rod, so that the door can be opened. It is considered advantageous that upon actuation of the first drive rod, the latch bolt will certainly engage the associated edge plate and lock the door. The latch bolt is reinforced in this task by a spring that acts in the projection direction.
Moreover, via the drive rod, the stroke of the latch bolt on moving outward to the locking position can be lengthened, which achieves even greater protection against break-ins.
A preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention contemplates that via the first drive rod, the latch bolt is not only lockable but also retractable all the way into the supplementary lock box. This has the advantage that the latch bolt can be displaced via a single drive rod over the entire working range.
Advantageously, the latch bolt is retractable via the second drive rod only whenever the latch bolt is in the latching position. If the latch bolt is pushed all the way out, or in other words is in the locking position, then the latch bolt is uncoupled from the second drive rod; in other words, the second drive rod cannot transmit the adjusting forces to the latch bolt.
Advantageously, the first drive rod is operatively connected to a lock cylinder of the main lock box. Via this lock cylinder, the latch bolt can accordingly be moved both into the open position and into the locking position. If the latch bolt is in the locking position, then in this exemplary embodiment the door can be unlocked and opened solely via the lock cylinder. If the latch bolt is in the latching position, then it can be drawn inward into the lock box either via a handle or via the lock cylinder. It is understood that instead of the door handle and lock cylinder type of lock, a doorknob lock, of the kind encountered as a rule in the United States, may be provided. One exemplary embodiment contemplates that the latch bolt is connected via toothing, in particular a rack that meshes with a split toothed ring of a drive wheel. This drive wheel has the function of moving the latch bolt between its locking position and its fully retracted position. The latch bolt and the drive wheel may form a step-up or step-down gear.
Preferably, the end of the first drive rod toward the supplementary lock box is connected to the drive wheel via two tabs. The drive wheel is driven via the first tab. Both tabs are pivotably fixed both to the end of the drive rod and to the drive wheel. The first tab drives the drive wheel in different directions and with a journal engages an oblong slot in the drive wheel, and the second tab engages a slide that is connected to the drive wheel. A journal is provided on the slide, which engages an oblong slot provided on the end of the second tab remote from the drive rod. In this way, a decouplingxe2x80x94that is, idle travel of the drive wheelxe2x80x94from the first drive rod is made possible, so that when the latch bolt is retractedxe2x80x94that is, the door has been shutxe2x80x94into the supplementary lock box the drive wheel is indeed moved along but the first drive rod remains in repose, since because of the oblong slots some idle travel has been created for the first drive rod on the drive wheel.
Preferably, the end of the second drive rod toward the supplementary lock box engages the drive wheel via a slide pivotably secured to the drive wheel. Via this slide, the drive wheel can accordingly be moved in the opening direction, thus retracting the latch bolt.
A preferred embodiment contemplates that the slide can be swiveled out of operative range of the second drive rod for the second tab. This is the case whenever the latch bolt has been displaced into its locking position via the first drive rod, and via the two tabs the drive wheel has been rotated in the closing direction and in the process the slide has been swiveled out of operative range of the second drive rod. In that case, the drive wheel can no longer be addressed via the second drive rod, since the operative connection has been interrupted by the outward swiveling of the slide out of the operative range. Only via the first drive rod can the drive wheel be displaced back into the latching position, in which the operative connection between the second drive rod, the slide and the drive wheel is then re-established.
A decoupling of a plurality of latch bolts is attained in that the latch bolt is retracted upon closure of the door and is out of operative communication with the two drive rods. This embodiment has the advantage that by pushing a tool into the gap between the door and the door frame, for instance, the latch bolt in the latching position can still be retracted, but the other latch bolts are not automatically retracted with it. In other words, the decoupling further increases the protection against break-ins.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention it is contemplated that the latch bolt is embodied as a swivel latch bolt. In this embodiment, the latch bolt is not pushed linearly out of the lock box but instead is rotated about a pivot axis and emerges from the lock box in the course of the rotary motion. This swivel latch bolt is swivelable in a manner corresponding to a swivel bolt.
The latch bolt is preferably retractable electromagnetically. In this way, the door can be opened with an electric door opener, for instance, in that all the latch bolts are retracted simultaneously in a known manner via a magnet.
Preferably, the main lock box has a latch bolt, a bolt and/or a latch. In a further feature of the present invention, the main lock box may be embodied as a panic lock.
Further advantages, characteristics and details will become apparent from the claims and the ensuing specification, in which especially preferred embodiments are described in detail in conjunction with the drawing. The characteristics shown in the drawing and those recited in the specification and claims may be essential to the present invention either individually or in any arbitrary combination with one another.